Pro-Palestine student protest at University of Barcelona ends after achieving 'historic victory'

The pro-Palestine student protest at the University of Barcelona will end on Friday, 19 days after it began, protesters have announced.

The protest ends after the university's decision on Wednesday to cut ties with Israel and not sign any new agreements with Israeli institutions.

Participants in the sit-in described it as a "historic victory" and believe it sets a "precedent" for other universities.

The students also announced that they are working with unions to call for a general strike in June.

The announcement comes the day after Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain will recognize the state of Palestine on May 28. 

Since May 6, tents, banners in support of Palestine and against the "genocide" of Israel, meetings, and other activities have all taken place on the university campus alongside classes taking place and daily life at the university carrying on. 

The sit-in protest even went on during the Catalan election on May 12, despite the fact that in the days beforehand there was a possibility the students would be removed from the premises.

The campers claim that their "struggle" was "firm" and that they did not "give in to the pressure" to remove the camp for the election or the Science Festival held in the building. 

"They wanted to convince us that our protest would have no effect, but we did not give in to the threats and showed that none of this was true," they state.

In their manifesto, the students recalled they are "part of an international movement" of university camps and affirmed that the protest "breaks with the normalization of genocide."

Ties cut with Israel

The University of Barcelona board approved on Wednesday not to enter into agreements with Israeli institutions until the conditions in the Gaza Strip guarantee absolute peace and respect for human rights. 

In addition, the university will cancel the cooperation agreement with the University of Tel Aviv "immediately and indefinitely."

The decisions were made with a vote count of 28 in favor, five against, and three abstentions.

The board has also temporarily suspended agreements with companies linked to the conflict and would cancel them after a thorough study and comparison of the relations with each entity. 

Finally, they will ask the European Union to "immediately block and take precautionary measures for the participation of Israeli institutions in all projects funded by European funds." 

The agreement includes that while the EU does not respond to this request, the university "will not participate in any academic or institutional event in which Israeli institutions are involved."